So the New Avengers Trailer, Right?

So last week, Marvel released their new trailer for the next avengers movie.

If you haven’t seen it already, I’ll drop a link in the description so you can go and see it. But it’s really super awesome and got me super hyped, though of course I was already hyped because I basically love everything Marvel does.

But I noticed something really interesting in the trailer, and I thought about talking it, and then it was commented on by one of my favorite comic writers Gail Simone, link to HER in the description, and I knew I had to bring it up.

In the trailer, which features a lot of behind-the-scenes content from the directors and producers as well as the actors, Marvel is referred to ONLY in the context of its movies, and the comics are never mentioned.

Now on the one hand, it’s pretty easy to dismiss this as being anything peculiar or weird. After all, THESE ARE FILM PEOPLE.

They are people who make movies for a living, MAKING a movie, talking on the set of the movie they are making.

But at the same time, we know most of them are huge nerds who also love the comics. In many cases that’s WHY they’re working on these particular movies.

It’s hard to imagine that they wouldn’t say anything about the comics in their interviews. So either way, the situation is weird.

If they didn’t mention the comics, that’s odd, and if they did, that means that any such mention of the comics was edited out of the trailer.

Either one is weird, because it means that intentionally or unintentionally, the creation of the Marvel cinematic universe has extended BEYOND, and somewhat divested itself OF the universe of the comic books.

Today’s description box is going to be really full, because I’m dropping a third link in there to a guy named MovieBob who is my absolute favorite film critic on YouTube. Even his complimentary videos are like slam poetry on steroids.

MovieBob recently made a video talking about how the Marvel comics have been trying all kinds of crazy, out-of-the-box ideas, and that includes a lot more diversity in their titles, which as you can imagine, I’m a big fan of.

But what I enjoyed even more than the fact that it IS happening is WHY it’s happening, which, as MovieBob puts it, is because the comics have become a bit of a testing ground FOR the movies.

I mean, let’s face it: even the bestselling comic series in HISTORY probably didn’t make as much profit as the LEAST successful Marvel universe film in the last ten years.

And as a result, the worlds of the comics and the movies have wildly differentiated themselves, as the comics are used to try more out-there, experimental storylines to revise and refine them in preparation for the big screen.

I mean, you know if you read the comics and watch the movies: the current Marvel comic universe looks absolutely nothing like the cinematic universe.

Steve Rogers is not Captain America, there’s more than one Spider-Man and at least eighteen Avengers teams.

Marvel has, in every relevant way, split itself into multiple mythologies, which certainly strengthen each other, but are no longer dependent on each other.

And that word “mythology” is important here. It’s been said before by smarter people than me that comics ARE the closest thing America has to an actual cultural mythology that functions the way mythology has through human history.

You’ve got a pantheon, beings that represent different aspects of human life and the natural world.

There’s moral instruction on right and wrong, social commentary, stories that adapt themselves to the need of the audience.

Maybe we don’t actually believe superheroes exist, but we don’t need to in order to use them the way ancient people used their gods.

And hell, we’ve probably built more monuments to our fictional characters than they did.

The evolution of the Marvel cinematic universe, which is only partially expressed in the new Avengers trailer, is one of the most exciting things to observe as someone is interested in story and studies it for a living.

And it’s going to really crazy to see what happens once Marvel, or Disney, realizes the power they have with their dominance of American mythology, and starts to use it. Hopefully for the good of us all?

That’s all I’ve got for you today, Rebel. While you’re here, check out another video from the channel. YouTube seems to think you’d enjoy that one. Or you can check out my Patreon and see my secret weekend videos.

Over 100,000 readers have read and loved Garrett's books, like the fantasy hits Nightblade and Midrealm. He's also a film festival favorite with movies like Unsaid, and a tech guru who posts lots of helpful how-tos for writers and filmmakers over at garrettbrobinson.com.